Cronulla railway station
}} Cronulla railway station is on the Eastern Suburbs and Illawarra Line of the Sydney Trains network. It serves the suburb of Cronulla, and is the terminus of the Cronulla branch of the line. Station entry is accessed from Cronulla Street. Cronulla is staffed 24 hours everyday.https://transportnsw.info/stop?q=10101351#/ History Thomas Holt (1811–88) owned most of the land that stretched from Sutherland to Cronulla in the 1860s. Holt built Sutherland House on the foreshore of Gwawley Bay in 1818, on the eastern side of Sylvania. After the Illawarra railway line was built to Sutherland in 1885, the area became popular for picnics and swimming. Many regulars rented beach houses at Cronulla every year for holidays. The Cronulla area was subdivided in 1895 and land was offered for sale at A₤10 per acre. In 1899, the government named the area Gunnamatta, which means "sandy hills". The municipality of Sutherland Shire was proclaimed on 15 March 1906, and the Post Office reopened in 1907. On 26 February 1908 it was officially changed to Cronulla and Gunnamatta was used for the name of the bay, on the western side. The first public school opened in 1910. In 1908, the NSW Government had approved construction of a steam tram route from Sutherland to Cronulla, with construction completed and steam trams operating along the route from 12 June 1911. The area remained mostly semi rural in the inter-war period. After World War II there was a large population increase and the area was suburbanised from the 1950s, with many of the guest houses being replaced by high rise flats. The Sutherland-Cronulla line was constructed from 1936 and completed in 1939, under the NSW premiership of the conservative Sir Bertram Stevens. In 1936 the NSW Parliament authorised expenditure of A₤300,000 to construct the Sutherland to Cronulla railway line, with the men employed to receive award wages "in pursuance of the Cabinet's policy of replacing unemployment relief works by works that will provide a better return for the expenditure of public money, and at the same time create improved conditions of employment." A federal loan for "state works" including "speeding up of the construction of the Sutherland-Cronulla line" was granted to the NSW government in November 1938. The Cronulla line replaced the steam tramway. A single track railway line replaced the tram service, opening on 16 December 1939. As part of the Cronulla line, five suburban railway stations with Inter-war Functionalist style platform buildings were constructed from Kirrawee to Woolooware (Kirrawee since demolished), and Sutherland Railway Station rebuilt with a pair of Inter-war Functionalist style platform buildings. Cronulla, as the terminus of the line, was regarded as the most important station on the line, and was officially opened on 16 December 1939 by the NSW Governor Lord Wakehurst. The Cronulla terminus was unlike any other railway terminus due to the very long single side loading platform designed to take two full length electric trains end to end. Cronulla was a major tourist resort, and the railway station was constructed close to the ocean beach. The design of the station allowed large crowds to move quickly in and out of the trains and off the platform. A good siding closed in 1949. The Cronulla line was constructed as an electrified railway line, and was the first major use of a miniaturised relay locking system using electrical relays for electric light signalling for sections of the line (known as the electro-pneumatic system). Under the Rail Clearways Program, the two remaining single track sections of the Cronulla line were duplicated in 2010. As a result, train stabling west of Cronulla was replaced by stabling sidings opposite platform 2. Cronulla has the second longest platform in New South Wales, after Albury. Configuration Cronulla station is located on Cronulla Street. Access to the station is provided through two street level entrances, with no stairs or lifts. Cronulla is the only station on the Sydney Trains network outside of the Carlingford Line to utilise this type of access, meaning the station automatically meets Easy Access standards. Unlike other stations, Cronulla utilises a unique platform format. Both platforms are located end to end, with platform 1 on the northern side of the station, and platform 2 on the southern side. Due to this format, Cronulla has the longest platform on the whole suburban Sydney Trains network. Platforms and Services | p1stop = Suburban services to Bondi Junction | p1notes = | p2linename = | p2stop = Suburban services to Bondi Junction | p2notes = Peak hours only }} Map Category:Sydney Trains Stations Category:Stations Category:Suburban stations Category:Stations with disabled access Category:Sutherland Shire